Mississippi High School State Championships

By Sarah Eckersley

BILOXI, Mississippi, October 26. TUPELO walked away with two state titles at the Mississippi High School Championships. With 302 points, the Tupelo girls won the meet for the first time since 2006. Oxford, who won in 2007 and 2008, placed second with 276 points while Madison Central took third (251). On the boys’ side, Tupelo won their third consecutive championship title with 402 points. Oxford and Madison Central followed with scores of 328 and 258 respectively.

Girls Individual Results
Tupelo won two of three relays. Bailey Scott, Lacy Russell, Cris Roberts, and Hannah Wilson clocked a time of 1:54.76 in the 200 medley relay for a first-place finish. Russell also had an individual win in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.36).

Wilson took first in the sprint races. She broke the 25-second barrier in the 50 freestyle (24.92) and set a state record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.88. The previous record (53.36) was set by Fiona Gispen in 2004.

Scott, Katie Ireland, and Roberts teamed up with Wilson for a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:42.90).

Biloxi’s Gabby Aranda won the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly. She finished with times of 2:11.05 and 57.96 respectively.

Madison Central’s Emily Heine, Bethany Branson, Alyx Wszolek, and Natalie Tatum won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:50.94.

Boys Individual Results
John Servati, Rick Deaton, Matt Williams, and Jackson Nabors (Tupelo) bested last year’s state record in the 200 medley relay by 2.44 seconds with a time of 1:40.78. Servati had individual wins in the 100 freestyle (48.05) and the 100 backstroke (52.84).

Oxford’s Matthew Nichols and Clinton’s Ben Vaughan went head-to-head in the 200 IM. Nichols came out on top by .01 seconds with a time of 2:00.89. He was only .79 seconds off Derek Mize’s 1998 state record. Vaughan had a first-place finish in the 500 freestyle (4:52.80).

Patrick McPherson teamed up with Nabors, Deaton, and Williams for a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.66). Williams also won the individual 100 breaststroke (1:01.47).

Nichols, John Walker, Alexander Mullen, and Andrew Mullen closed the meet with a win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:25.02).